Corrupt Republicans

There is a great article in the New York Times about how OSHA is now being run by the people from the industries it used to oversee. These are political appointees whose interest is allowing big business to make more money and the workers be damned.

Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court.
The agency has killed dozens of existing and proposed regulations and delayed adopting others. For example, OSHA has repeatedly identified silica dust, which can cause lung cancer, and construction site noise as health hazards that warrant new safeguards for nearly three million workers, but it has yet to require them.

The politcal hack now running the agency, Edwin G. Foulke Jr., the former chairman of the South Carolina republican party and top fund-raiser, describes himself as a Ronald Reagan republican. I guess that means he's a crummy actor, not too smart, probably becoming senile, yet cleans up well and delivers a great one-liner.

Instead of regulations, Mr. Foulke and top officials at other agencies favor a "voluntary compliance strategy," reaching agreements with industry associations and companies to police themselves. What this means is that industry can set their own standards for worker safety and workplace chemical exposure.

The proverbial case of the fox guarding the henhouse. No business likes regulations, so they decided to go out and buy themselves a little bit of the government.

The agency had long been the target of businesses that criticized its rules as arbitrary, costly and confusing. Three of the biggest industries regulated by OSHA — transportation, agribusiness and construction — have given more than $630 million in political campaign contributions since 2000, with nearly three-quarters of that money going to Republicans. The Bush administration has
promised to address their concerns.

Address their concerns? Oh yeah, they're helping these businesses screw their employees. This is just another example of how the republicans have allowed the American government to become a wholly owned subsidiary of big business. These corrupt bastards are bought and paid for.

On another note, I'm still looking for moderate republicans. I haven't found any, yet, but I'm hopeful. Maybe they're just bashful and don't like speaking up about what they truly believe.

Jim M

[thanks to The Blog Report for the link]